The No. 3 Kentucky Wildcats earned a 76-57 win over the No. 14 Troy Trojans in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday night, dancing its way to a second round date with the No. 6 Illinois Fighting Illini.
Kentucky, in its first year under Head Coach Mark Pope, was able to knock off the Trojans courtesy of a team-high 20-point performance from junior Otega Oweh, who amounted at least 20 points in a game for the 13th time this season.
Illinois, which entered the tournament with a 21-12 overall record and a 12-8 Big-Ten record, bested the No. 11 Xavier Musketeers 86-73 in the first round on Saturday night, advancing to the second round of the tournament for the second straight season.
“We just gotta do us,” Kentucky freshman Trent Noah said. “We gotta play our solid basketball, play our game, get out in transition, get our threes up and wedge. So, yeah, they’re obviously really talented, really good ball club, but I think we just gotta focus in and do us tomorrow.”
Illinois Head Coach Brad Underwood, who is in his eighth season at the helm in Champaign, rallied his squad to go as far as the Elite Eight just one time, and it came last season.
The Fighting Illini’s opening win was powered by freshman Will Riley, who reached a team-high 22 points while also gathering four boards and two blocks. Riley is averaging 12.8 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game.
Kentucky’s defense, which has performed relatively well recently, will need to have an answer for Riley, who is definitely capable of ending the Cats’ run for banner number nine if he finds his rhythm.
Along with Riley, freshman Kasparas Jakucionis, who is a projected first-round pick in the 2025 NBA draft, is a concerning matchup, averaging a team-high 15 points per game and a team-high 4.8 assists per game on an average of 44.2% shooting from the field. If Kentucky can suppress Riley and Jakucionis, its aspirations of advancing to the Sweet Sixteen for the first time since 2019 can become more prevalent.
Kentucky bigs Amari Williams and Brandon Garrison will need to lock down and box out Tomislav Ivisic, Illinois’ big man and brother of former Cat — now Arkansas Razorback — Zvonimir Ivisic. Ivisic sat closely behind Riley in Illinois’ first round tilt, recording a double-double with 20 points, 10 rebounds, one assist and two blocks.
“Illinois is a big physical team,” Kentucky’s Ansley Almonor said. “We’ve been accustomed to playing in the SEC. So we gotta make sure we’re ready for the battles. It’s going to be a physical battle in the paint.”
The Wildcats and Fighting Illini have met 15 times throughout the years, but not since 1984. Kentucky holds an 11-4 advantage, with its first win coming in 1942 and its most recent one coming in the two programs’ last meeting, back in 1984.
Tipoff for Kentucky’s second round tilt with the Fighting Illini is set for 5:15 p.m. ET and can be viewed on CBS.
